With internet chess

361 Pages·2009·11.463 MB·English

by  Burgess, Graham

22
GRAHAM BURGESS achieved the FIDE Master title at the age of twenty following his first
placeattheinternationalopentournamentatValThorens,France,in1988.Sincethenhe
hasbeenaregularinternationalcompetitor,andistheveteranofseveralchessboardbattles
withWorldChampionshipCandidates.Heistheauthoroftwentyhighlyacclaimedbookson
chess,andeditorofmorethantwohundredandfifty.
HegraduatedfromtheUniversityofCambridgewithadegreeinMathematicsin1989.Since
thenhehasworkedasachesswriter,fortwoyearsbasedinDenmarkasaclubtrainer,and
laterasacommissioningeditorinLondon.NowheisEditorialDirectorofGambitPublica-
tionsLtd,achesspublishingcompanyfoundedin1997.In1994heestablishedanewworld
recordformarathonblitzchessplaying,scoringaremarkable87%in510gamesoverthree
daysandnights.
In1997,thefirsteditionofTheMammothBookofChesswontheprestigiousBritishChess
FederationBookoftheYearAward.
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Constable&RobinsonLtd
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FirsteditionpublishedintheUKin1997byRobinson
ThisrevisedandupdatededitionpublishedbyRobinson,
animprintofConstable&RobinsonLtd,2009
Copyright©GrahamBurgess2009
TherightofGrahamBurgesstobeidentifiedastheauthorofthisworkhasbeenassertedbyhimin
accordancewiththeCopyright,Designs&PatentsAct1988.
Allrightsreserved.Thisbookissoldsubjecttotheconditionthatitshallnot,bywayoftradeoroth-
erwise,belent,re-sold,hiredoutorotherwisecirculatedinanyformofbindingorcoverotherthan
thatinwhichitispublishedandwithoutasimilarconditionincludingthisconditionbeingimposedon
thesubsequentpurchaser.
AcopyoftheBritishLibraryCataloguinginPublication
DataisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
UKISBN978-1-84529-931-6
13579108642
FirstpublishedintheUnitedStatesin2009byRunningPressBookPublishersAllrightsreserved
underthePan-AmericanandInternationalCopyrightConventionsThisbookmaynotbereproduced
inwholeorinpart,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopying,
recording,orbyanyinformationstorageandretrievalsystemnowknownorhereafterinvented,
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublisher.
987654321
Digitontherightindicatesthenumberofthisprinting
USLibraryofCongressnumber:2008944134
USISBN978-0-7624-3726-9
RunningPressBookPublishers
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44
CONTENTS
ForewordbyGrandmasterJohnNunn
SymbolsandAbbreviations
Introduction
IntroductiontotheSecondEdition
IntroductiontotheThirdEdition
FrequentlyAskedQuestions
PartOne:MasteringChess
DeliveringMate
SolutionstoDeliveringMate
Tactics
Combinations
SolutionstoCombinations
Endgames
SolutionstoEndgameChallenges
ChessOpenings
OpenGames
Semi-openGames
Queen’sPawnOpenings
FlankOpeningsandMiscellaneousSystems
AttackandDefence
SolutionstoAttackandDefenceTests
PartTwo:TheWorldofChess
BeginningChess
TheChessClock
CompetitiveChess
ComputerandInternetChess
Puzzles
SolutionstoPuzzles
Women’s,Veterans’,JuniorandCorrespondenceChess
EndgameStudies
ChessintheMedia
PartThree:EssentialChessInformation
GlossaryofChessTerms
ABriefHistoryoftheWorldChessChampionship
AppendixA:HowtoPlayChess
AppendixB:ChessNotation
AppendixC:TheBasicMates
AppendixD:Bibliography
55
ForewordbyJohnNunn
Theoriginsofchessareshroudedinmystery.Boardgameswerecertainlyplayedby
theancientEgyptiansandRomans,butnobodyknowstherulesofthesegamesorwhether
theyweretheancestorsofanygamesplayedtoday.Theearliestdatetowhichadefinite
precursorofchesscanbetracedisaboutAD600.TravellingfromIndiaviatheArabworldto
Europe,chesshasexerteditspeculiarfascinationoverawiderangeofcultures.Thisuniver-
salappeal,stretchingforaspanof1400years,surelyindicatesthatchesstapssomedeep-
rootedelementsofthehumanmind.Chessalmostcertainlyhaditsoriginsinatypeofwar
game,andthesportingorcompetitiveelementisstilloneofitsmostseductivefeatures.The
urgetocompeteisundoubtedly a fundamental partofthehuman psyche, and whileone
mayargueastohowmuchofthisurgeisaresultofupbringingandhowmuchisgenetically
based,thefactisthatitexistsandislikelytodosofortheforeseeablefuture.
However,chessdoesnotappealonlytothebasicdesiretowin.Italsoexertsitspull
onanotherimportantpsychologicalelement,thedesiretodetectpatternsandtoimposeor-
deronchaos.Ahumanplayingchessdependsnotonlyonmemoryandabilitytocalculate
sequencesofmoves,butalsoonpatternrecognition.Thisoftenmanifestsitselfonasubcon-
sciouslevel.Somehow,deepwithinthebrain,allthegamesofchessonehaseverseenhave
madeamark,andthepositionontheboardatanygivenmomentiscomparedwithallthese
pre-existingpatterns.Aclosematchwillresultinasudden“feeling”thatoneknowswhat
thecorrectplanshouldbe.Askilledhumanplayerwillknowwhentotrustthesemysterious
hunchesandwhentoshowahealthyscepticism.Often,whenagrandmasterisaskedwhy
heplayedaparticularmove,hewillstruggletoexplainexactlyhowhecametoadecision.It
mayappearasthoughheistryingtokeephissecretstohimself,butmoreoftenitissimply
becausehedoesnothimselfunderstandthesubconsciousprocessesthatledhimtoplaya
particularmove.
Thistypeofprocessisoneofthehighestmentalfacultiesofwhichhumanbeingsare
capable.Bycontrast,purelymechanicalreasoning,basedoncalculation,islessdistinctive.
Suppose,forexample,thatabusinessmanmakesdecisionsaboutwhethertoinvestmoney
inaparticularendeavourpurelyonthebasisoffinancialcalculation.Thenhemightjustas
wellbereplacedbyacomputer,whichwouldbefasterandperformthecalculationswithless
chanceoferror.Arealtalentforbusinessgoesfarbeyondroutinecalculations,intothearea
ofjudgementandintuition.Justasinchess,atalentedbusinessmanwillhavealifetime’sex-
perienceinhissubconsciousandthiswillenablehimtomakeareasonablyaccuratedeci-
sion,evenwhentheinformationavailablewouldresultinan“insufficientdata”errorfroma
computer.Indeed,hismainproblemwillprobablybetotrytoconvincehiscolleaguesofthe
correctnessofhisdecision.Whenplayingchess,oneisalone.Therearenocolleaguesor
meetings.Onehastotalauthoritytoimplementone’sdecisions,andconverselyonehasto
acceptfullresponsibilityfortheconsequences,goodorbad.This,too,isoneoftheappeals
ofchess.Therearefewareasinlifewheredecisionscanbemadewithoutconsultationand
atamoment’snotice,andtherearefewareaswheretheeffectsarevisiblesoquickly.
Thehistoryofchessisoneofverygradualdevelopment.Theruleshaveevolvedover
thecenturiesbuthavebeenmoreorlessstaticforthepast500years.Forhalfamillennium,
chessknowledgehasgraduallyaccumulated,buttoday’sgrandmastersstillfindthatmuch
aboutthegameistotallybaffling.Now,however,after1400years,chessisfacinganew
challengefromthecomputer.Itisfarfromclearwhetherthestrongestchess-playingentity
ontheplanetisbasedoncarbonoronsilicon.Itoftenseemsremarkabletonon-chessplay-
66
ersthatahumanhasanychanceofbeatingacomputeratchess.Thisarisesbecauseofthe
commonmisconceptionthatplayingchessisallaboutcalculatingsequencesofmoves.The
logicthenisthatsincecomputersaremuchbetteratcalculatingthanhumans,acomputer
should normally beat a human. The fallacy here is that, as mentioned above, calculating
movesisjustonepartofplayingchess.Themysteriousprocessesofthesubconsciousare
justasimportant,andthesecannot,asyet,beprogrammedintoamachine.
Inthe1970s,ahumanvscomputercontestwasjustajoke,asthepoormachines
stoodnochanceatall.Eventhoughtheycouldcalculatehundredsoftimesfasterthanahu-
manbeing,theresultwasaforegoneconclusion.Atthetime,intheartificialintelligencede-
partmentsofuniversitiesallroundtheworld,agreatdealofeffortwasexpendedonchess
programming.Thereasonwasthatitwasfeltthatacomputerwouldonlyplaychesssuc-
cessfullywhenithadbeenprogrammedtothinklikeahumanbeing,atleastinthelimited
areaofchess.Andifitwaspossibletodoitinchess,thenwhynotinotherareasofhuman
mentalactivity?Now,however,theacademicinterestinchessprogramminghasmoreorless
vanished.Nobodyeversucceededinprogrammingacomputertothinklikeahumanbeing,
andalltheprogressinchessprogramminghasbeenmadebyconcentratingonwhatcom-
puters do best – calculation. Over the past twenty years the speed of computers has in-
creasedenormouslyandnowtheycancalculatemillionsoftimesfasterthanahumanbeing.
Whatthehumandoeselegantlyandwithlittleeffortbysubconsciouspatternrecognition,
thecomputerdoesby“bruteforce”,i.e.byexaminingmillionsofpossiblecontinuationsand
findingtherightmovebyanexhaustiveanalysisprobingmanymovesahead.Today’scom-
putersaresofastthatthefactthatthismethodisveryinefficientdoesn’tmatter–thecom-
puterhasmegahertztospareandcanaffordtowaste99%ofitstimelookingatirrelevant
variationsthatahumanwouldneverconsider,providedtheremaining1%isspentonthe
criticallines.
In1996thehumanWorldChampion,GarryKasparov,facedtheworld’sleadingcom-
puter,DeepBlue,inasix-gamematch.MostcommentatorsimaginedthatKasparovwould
seeoffthesiliconchallengewithlittledifficulty.TherewaspalpableshockwhenKasparov
lostthefirstgame.PerhapsKasparovhadunderestimatedthepowersofhisopponent;in
anyevent,Kasparovplayedmuchbetterintheremaininggamesandendedupwinningby4
However,Kasparovfaredlesswellinthe1997rematchandthenumbercrunchercame
outaheadby3½-2½.Sincethen,themachineshavesteadilyadvanced,andDeepFritz’s4-
2winagainstVladimirKramnikin2006,inwhichthethenworldchampionfailedtowina
singlegame,indicatedthatthecomputershadpushedaheadofthetophumans.Afterthis,
interest in man-machine contests faded since it was apparent that an interesting contest
couldonlybeobtainedbyhandicappingthecomputerinsomeway.
Thelessonsofcomputerchessmayhavewiderimplications.Eventhoughtheefforts
ofcomputerscientiststomakecomputersthinklikehumanbeingshavenotbeenverysuc-
cessful,perhapsthisshouldnotbeacauseforregret.Inchess,atanyrate,computershave
achievedtheircurrentlevelofperformancepreciselybynotthinkinglikehumanbeings.The
resultofthishasbeenanewperspectiveonchesswhichhasnotbeenprovidedby1400
yearsofhumandevelopment.Becausetheprocessesbywhichcomputersselectamoveare
totallydifferenttothoseemployedbyhumans,computerssometimescomeupwithanas-
tonishing move which a human would never even consider. Many times in recent years a
computerhasplayedamovewhichthewatchinghumanshavedismissedastheresultofa
programmingbug,onlyforfurtheranalysistorevealtheconcealedideabehindthemove.In
77
other words, the differing perspective of the computer has provided insights which would
probably never have been obtained by human analysis. The simple fact is that nobody
knowswhathumanbeingsaremissing,andthisappliesnotonlytochess.
Thelimitationsofhumanthoughtmustbethere,butlittlecanbesaidaboutthembe-
causeitisimpossibletomeasuretheunknown.Firstofall,ourbrainsareundoubtedlylim-
itedbyourevolution.Intelligenceevolvedasasurvivalcharacteristicinaworldverydiffer-
entfromtheonewenowinhabit.Theslowmillion-yearcrawlofevolutionmayhavefittedus
wellfortheworldinwhichhumanityfirstappeared,butbycomparisonthesocialandtech-
nologicalchangestakingplacetodayarelightning-fast.Thefactthatslightlyintelligentapes
havedevelopedworld-destroyingweaponsdoesnotimplyanabilitytomanagethatsame
worldinapositiveway.Moreover,thereareprobablyculturally-basedlimitations.Humande-
velopment tends to build gradually from one generation to the next, and only very rarely
doesitsuddenlyshootoffatatangent.Perhapsthousandsofyearsagotherewasaforkin
theroadofknowledge;humanityspedoffalongonebranch,neversuspectingthattheother
existed.
Intheabsenceofanyexternalperspective,wecannottellhowlimitedourthinking
processes are. If we suddenly make contact with extra-terrestrial intelligences, will their
thoughtsprovetobealongutterlydifferentlinestoours,perhapseventothepointofmak-
ingcommunicationimpossible,orwilltherebeenoughcommongroundtomakemeaningful
contact?Nobodycansay.However,theprogressivedevelopmentofcomputerssuggeststhat
onedaywemaybeabletocreateanotherviewpointourselves.Justastheprimitivecom-
puters of today have shown us new concepts in chess, perhaps one day their successors
mayshowuswhatwearemissingelsewhere.Andthefirstcluewillhavebeenprovidedbya
gamefromsixth-centuryIndia.
88
SymbolsandAbbreviations
+ Check
++ Doublecheck
# Checkmate
x Capture
!! Brilliantmove
! Goodmove
!? Interestingmove
?! Dubiousmove
? Badmove
?? Blunder
Ch Championship
Cht Teamchampionship
OL Olympiad
Ech Europeanchampions-
hip
Wch Worldchampionship
Z Zonalevent
IZ Interzonalevent
Ct Candidates’event
jr juniorevent
tt teamtournament
mem memorialevent
wom women’sevent
Corr. Correspondencechess
(n) nthmatchgame
GM Grandmaster
IM InternationalMaster
FM FIDEMaster
FIDE FédérationInternatio-
naledes
Echecs(WorldChess
Federation
PCA ProfessionalChessAs-
sociation
GMA GrandmastersAssocia-
tion
USCF UnitedStatesChess
Federation
ECF EnglishChessFedera-
tion
WhenagamementionedisannotatedinTheMammothBookoftheWorld’sGreatestChess
Games,thisisindicatedbyWGGfollowedbythegamenumber.
99
Introduction
Althoughthisisentirelyappropriatetobereadasafirstorsecondcourseinchess,itisnot
a beginners’ chess book in the traditional sense. Likewise, although it contains plenty of
high-levelmaterialandsometrulymind-bendingchesspuzzles,itisnotanexperts’manual.
Ihavewrittenthisbookinsuchawaythatitprovidesinspirationandusefulinformationfor
everyonewithaninterestinchess,fromtotalbeginnerstograndmasters.
Theresultofthis,Ihope,isabookthatyouwillrefertoanddipintoformanyyearsto
come;abookyouwillnotoutgrowasyoubecomeanaccomplishedplayer.
Whyplaychess?
Everyonewhoplayschesshastheirownanswertothisquestion,andsinceyouhaveatleast
pickedthisbookupofftheshelf,thegamemusthaveanattractiontoyou.
Tochildren,chessisacoolwaytobeatotherchildren(or,betterstill,adults).Winningat
chessisfarmoresatisfyingthanwinninginanymoreprimitivetypeofbattle,andhasmore
street-credthancomingtopinamathstest(thoughthatisthesortofthingchildrenwho
playchesstendtodo!).
Parentsofchess-playingchildrendelightinthementaltrainingthegameprovides.Children
whoexceloverthechessboardhaveanuncannyabilitytosucceedinotherfieldstoo.
Foradultsplayingchessatahighlevel,thethrillofthegameisjustasgreat.Adrenaline
flowsfreelyduringatensechessgame,andagoodwinfeelsbetterthan,well,justabout
anything.
Foradultswhoplaychessatlessexultedlevels,itisa funpastime,anenjoyablewayto
spendtimewithfriendsorawaytomeetpeoplewithsimilarinterestsataclub.Andyes,
everyonegetsakickoutofwinning,nomatterhoworwhoagainst.
Thesearemainlytheexternalreasonsforplayingchess.Whatisitaboutthegameitself
thatplayerslike?Simplyput,thegameisbeautiful.Forallofthesupposedcomplexityof
chess,thegeometryissimpleandelegant.Awell-playedgamehasacertainlogicalcrisp-
nessaboutit.Simplyseeingagoodmoveonaboardcangivechessplayerspleasure.Itisa
gloriousfeelingtoplayagreatgame,flowingfromstarttofinish.
Achapter-by-chapterwalk-throughofthisbook
Iamassumingthatreadersalreadyknowhowtoplaychessandunderstandchessnotation.
Ifyoudonotknowhowthepiecesmove,Irecommendthatyoulearnfromafriendorrela-
tive,face-to-faceacrossachessboard.Thisisbyfarthebestwaytolearnhowtoplaychess.
Ifthisisnotpossible,thenAppendixA,neartheendofthebook,istheplacetostart.Then
AppendixBexplainshowchessgamesarewrittendown,whilethenextstageinthetradi-
tionalprogrammefornewcomerstochessistolearnthebasicmates:AppendixC.
Ifyouareuptospeedwiththesebasics,thentherestofthebookbeckons.Ifyourmain
aimistoimproveyourchess-playing,thenproceedtoPartOne.Thereyouwillfindtips,ex-
amplesandpositionsforsolving.Inexperiencedplayersshouldworkthroughthesechapters
inturnfromthestartofthesectionondeliveringmate,whilemoreexperiencedplayerscan
1100
dipinaccordingtotaste;thematesintwoshouldprovideentertainment,andthecombina-
tionsa real challenge. I guaranteethatnomatterhowgood you are, you will meetyour
matchsomewhereinthesepositionsforsolving,althoughformastersthismaynotbeuntil
thetoughercombinations.
Seeing tactics is really the key to playing chess successfully, since they are the building
blocksfromwhicheverythingelseinchessismade.Therefore,itisespeciallyimportantto
studyandunderstandtheseearlychapters.Onceyouhavegotagoodfeelforthetactical
propertiesofthepieces,itistimetomoveontothesectiononendgames,openingsorat-
tackanddefence.
Thediscussionofendgamesisquitebrief.Myaimherewastopresentafewofthekeyposi-
tionsthatwillbeofmostuseinpracticeandtoexplainthebasicconceptsofendgameplay.
Therearemanyweightytomesofdetailedanalysisofallmannerofendgamepositions.My
experienceisthatsincetheexactpositionsintheendgamemanualswillalmostneverarise
inactualplay,itisnotsomuchthespecificsoftheanalysisthatareimportant,butrather
the concepts. Playing endgames well is about knowing a few key positions well, knowing
whattoaimforandanalysingagreatdealattheboard.
Inthesectiononopeningsmyaimhasbeentoexplainthespiritofeachopeningandgive
yousomeideaofthetypicalplansandstrategiesavailabletobothsides.Ifeelthisisfar
more useful than presenting a lot of detailed analysis. Once you have identified openings
thatappeal,youwillbeinabetterpositiontounderstanddetailedmonographsontheindi-
vidual openings, should you decidefurtherstudy isneeded. I havealsoindicated a great
manytrapsintheopenings.
Even if you have no great interest in studying openings, there is much of interest in the
openingssection.Thestrategicexamplesareallhighlyinstructiveillustrativegamesthatwill
repaycloseexamination.
Thechapter“AttackandDefence”wasalotoffuntowrite.Hereweseestandardsacrifices
(sometimessuccessful,sometimesnot)andplentyofexamplesofcreativeattacking,defen-
siveandcounterattackingchess.Itisinattackingplaythattacticsandstrategycometogeth-
er.
Talkingofstrategy,youmaybewonderingwherethesectiononchessstrategyhasgone.I
decidedthatitwastooimportantasubjecttobecompartmentalized,andsothediscussion
ofstrategyrunsthroughoutthesectionsonopenings,andattackanddefence.Theglossary
alsoprovidesawealthofinformationonstrategicconceptsandcouldverywellbereadasa
courseinthebasicsofchessstrategy.
Thesecondpartofthebooktakesagenerallookatthechessworldandistheplacetogoif
you wish to discover more about how you can pursue your interest in chess, whether by
playingclubortournamentchess,usingcomputersorbygettingonline.Theseareexciting
timesforchess,sincethegameissowellsuitedforplayingonline,andchessdatacanbe
transmittedsoefficientlyinelectronicformat.Foratimeinthe1990s,thebattleforchess-
boardsupremacybetweenthestrongesthumanplayersandthemostpowerfulcomputers
raged,butnowtheemphasisismoreoncooperationbetweenthetwo.Thepuzzleschapter
allowsyou,amongstmanyotherthings,totesthowwellyoucancooperatewithyourown
computer.